The Texan's Surprise Son

Probably best not to bring up that little tidbit. Hard enough learning he was a father. Finding out Leah had used him merely as a sperm donor...well, it wasn’t necessary and was too risky. She didn’t want to give him a reason to abandon Cody entirely. Her conscience wouldn’t let her.

Running a background check on Jacob wasn’t something Mariana had immediately done once Leah revealed his name. Rather, she and her mother had stayed by Leah’s side as the machines kept her alive. They’d said their goodbyes, made their peace and let her hold Cody in the crook of her frail arm. Her eventual passing was poignant and gut-wrenching.

With it also came a certain amount of relief. Leah was no longer in pain. After a small but moving memorial service, Mariana became the mother figure in Cody’s life. It was a role she’d gladly fulfill indefinitely.

Depending on what Jacob wanted to do, it was also a role she might be forced to give up. Mariana had wrestled over telling him for weeks.

She and her sister had never agreed on a father’s responsibility toward his children. Leah believed as their mother did: a man was unnecessary and would ultimately break your heart. Mariana felt the complete opposite. Fathers had a moral responsibility to their children as well as a fiscal one. Her profession only reinforced that in her mind.

Shortly after the memorial service, she began accumulating information on Jacob. No way would she allow him visitation, much less share custody of her nephew, should he be unfit.

Jacob certainly had the means to support a son. He was from a wealthy family, was college educated, held a good position as senior safety manager at Baron Energies’ largest drill site—though she was surprised he wasn’t further up the food chain—owned his own home and was, by all accounts, an upstanding citizen.

He had only one fault in her opinion, and it was a doozy. Rodeoing. Besides the frequent nomadic lifestyle, there were also buckle bunnies. A man with Jacob’s good looks was bound to have a vast following, though from Mariana’s research, he didn’t avail himself.

Except, apparently, for her sister. Though by her own admission, Leah had misled him.

Mariana’s sense of right and wrong had eventually prevailed, and she decided to approach Jacob. She just hadn’t planned on it being today. Maybe she should have curbed her impulses when those signs for the rodeo appeared.

“Please don’t feel that I’m pressuring you into anything,” she said to him. “We’ll take this one step at a time at whatever speed you’re comfortable.”

“If he is my son, I’ll do the right thing.”

“Good. We’re in agreement on that.”

Mariana didn’t jump for joy. She’d heard fathers make similar statements before, then go back on their word. If that happened, she was prepared to raise Cody herself. More than prepared, she was happy to. She loved her nephew.

She turned from the road onto the freeway. It had grown dark since they left the rodeo grounds. Jacob’s face was cast in shadows. Mariana allowed herself to relax. She wouldn’t be distracted by him for the remainder of the trip home.

“What’s the first step?” he asked, the edge in his voice unmistakable. “Meeting him?”

“We start with the DNA testing. I can give you the name of a facility my firm uses. It’s downtown, not far from Baron Energies’ offices. Or we can use one of your own choosing.”

“Is there one in southwest Dallas? The farther south and west the better. I can drive over at lunch tomorrow.”

He wanted a facility near the drill site where he worked. That made sense.

“If you give me your phone number when I drop you off, I’ll research a location and text you the info tomorrow morning after I arrange for the testing. You can go in at your convenience. But if you’d be kind enough to let me know when you do, I’d appreciate it.”

“Okay.”

“It’s a very simple and quick procedure.”

“How long? For the results,” he clarified.

“Five to seven business days. You’ll be notified by email when the results are available and—”

“Okay,” he said again in a tone that clearly implied he was through discussing the testing.

Again, she cut him some slack. This was an enormous amount to process. She must be patient.

Several minutes of silence followed, after which he asked, “Then what?”

“If the results are positive, we can set up a meeting for you and Cody.”

“Who’s taking care of him now? Seeing as you’re here.”

That wasn’t a question she’d expected from him. “He’s in day care during the week when I’m at work. Today, my mother’s watching him. She lives in Austin and drives up every other weekend.”

“How does she feel about this? You telling me.”

Another unexpected question. Mariana relied on the skills she acquired as an attorney to maintain her composure and smiled. “She doesn’t know.”

“She doesn’t approve.”

Jacob was obviously more astute than she’d first thought.

“She loves Cody very much, and he’s all she has left of Leah.” The painful lump returned, forcing Mariana to wait before speaking. “I decided not to tell her until you and I had talked and the DNA results are in. Why upset the apple cart for no reason?”

Several more minutes of silence passed. Mariana was ready to spend the remainder of the ride with only her own thoughts for company when Jacob spoke softly from the darkness.

“Tell me about him. Cody. What’s he’s like?”

For the first time since she’d approached him on the rodeo midway, she began to think Jacob might have an interest in Cody.

She described her charming yet headstrong nephew until the next exit on the freeway, when Jacob’s lack of response caused her earlier doubts to return. If he turned out to be like Mariana’s father, then poor little Cody would be the one to pay the price.

Chapter Two

The noise was constant and nearly deafening, even with earplugs. Jacob didn’t remove the small foam devices until he was far from the drill site, stuffing them into the front pocket of his work shirt. He could still hear the rig and the generators grinding in the distance. Sometimes, he thought he could hear them in his sleep.

His hard hat came off next, and he ran fingers through his perpetually damp hair. The drill site was in a constant state of sweltering, summer, winter, spring and fall. In addition to noise, the massive drill gave off enormous amounts of heat. Today, Mother Nature added to their discomfort by providing unseasonably warm weather for early November.

Jacob opened the door to his truck, tossing his hard hat and fluorescent-green vest onto the passenger seat. His aim was good—or bad, depending on one’s perspective. The hat hit a stack of papers and hand tools, knocking them onto the floorboard. He didn’t bother straightening the mess.

I’m a father. Could be a father, he amended. He’d find out for sure when the test results came back in roughly a week. As Mariana mentioned, he’d receive an email with a link to the lab’s secure website where he could log in and view the results.

One email, and his life could be forever changed in ways he had only begun to imagine.

Jacob lived twenty minutes from the drill site and twenty-five minutes from Baron Energies’ headquarters in Dallas. Convenient. He’d bought the house last year, planning on being promoted from the field to an executive position. That had yet to happen.

Brock refused to consider transferring Jacob. Not until he’d “gained more experience.” In truth, Brock had been waiting and hoping for Jet, his biological son, to take an interest in the company. Jet had finally started coming around, leaving Jacob even further out in the cold.

Every proposal he presented, and he did it often, was immediately shot down with Brock proclaiming in a loud voice, “There will be no alternate energy division. Not as long as I’m in charge. We Barons are oil people.”

How anyone could look at the world today and not recognize the value of alternate energy baffled Jacob. Oil was a limited resource. Wind and sun weren’t. For at least the next billion years.

Out of frustration and anger, Jacob had returned to rodeoing this past spring, seeking an outlet for his pent-up energy. No pun intended. It had been a great stress reliever and, at first, fun. Then he’d started winning, and—this was a surprise—Brock had taken notice.

The higher Jacob’s ranking climbed, the more frequent talks he and his adoptive father engaged in about Jacob’s future with the company. Brock was still determined that Jet take over one day—now it was alongside his sister Lizzie. But he was listening to, if not entirely agreeing with, Jacob’s ideas for expansion.

To that end, Jacob spent every weekend on the road or in the air. It had paid off. He was a hairbreadth away from qualifying for the National Finals Rodeo in December. Brock was thrilled. He himself had won a few titles back in the day. Carly, too. Jacob would be the first of his sons to follow in his footsteps.

Maybe follow. How would a son affect Jacob’s career? Both of his careers?

Visitation or custody? Mariana Snow hadn’t been specific as to which. He still thought it a little strange that she didn’t want full custody herself. If she hadn’t told Jacob, he might never have known he had a son. She could have easily complied with her sister’s wishes, and Jacob would have been none the wiser. It was enough to give him pause.

Rather than head directly home, he drove to the family ranch. The Roughneck was a little out of the way but worth it. Days like this one, he needed to climb on the back of a horse. In his opinion, there was no better way to work off stress or unload a heavy mind.

It was well past dark when he arrived. That wouldn’t be a problem. Floodlights were scattered throughout the barn and arena. He could ride for an hour and still be home by eight.

He maneuvered his truck into the long driveway, noting the darkened farm store as he passed it. His adoptive sisters Savannah and Carly ran the store, which offered fresh produce and homemade pies. The two had recently embarked on a search for their biological mother, Delia Baron, with only dead ends and cold trails to show for their efforts.

Jacob didn’t need to search for his biological father. He knew right where Oscar Burke resided: the Federal Correctional Institute in Beaumont. Minimum security, as if that counted for anything. This February, he’d be up for parole. The third time. Had he not been involved in an attack against a guard—an innocent bystander, he claimed; the perpetrator, witnesses had testified—he’d be out by now.

Jacob pulled in next to the barn and parked. The main lights were on. Since he was the only one who ever rode at night, that meant Luke Nobel, the Roughneck’s ranch manager and Carly’s fiancé, was dealing with a problem.

Jacob found Luke in the barn, his forearms propped on a stall door and staring worriedly at the horse inside.

“What’s wrong?”

“Colic.”

The smile Jacob would normally expect to see on Luke’s face was absent.

“Not good.”

For a few minutes they discussed the mare’s symptoms and what steps Luke had taken.

“If she isn’t better in an hour, I’m calling the vet.”

The large chestnut stood with her head hanging low between her front legs and her eyes filled with misery.

“You sure you want to wait that long? This horse is one of Brock’s favorites.”

Luke shrugged. “I’ll keep a close watch on her.” If necessary, he’d climb into the stall with the mare. “You going for a ride?” He glanced pointedly at the change of clothes and pair of boots in Jacob’s hands.

“Thinking of taking Zeus out for a spin.”

The gelding was the horse Jacob had used for calf roping and steer wrestling, two rodeo events he enjoyed but had mostly stopped competing in. His four twelve-hour shifts at the drill site left him with just enough time on the weekends to get to whatever rodeo he was competing in. Trailering a horse would be too time-consuming. As a result, Jacob focused solely on bucking events, with the occasional steer wrestling thrown in.

“I’d join you if I could,” Luke said.

“You have your priorities.”

The two were good friends and had been for years. They’d competed against each other on the circuit until Luke retired from rodeoing to care for his daughter who, Jacob just that moment realized, was about the same age as Cody. Now, Luke was marrying Jacob’s sister Carly.

Fatherhood and family life suited his friend. Would it suit Jacob? What kind of father would he be? Lord knows, Oscar Burke was a poor excuse and no role model. And Brock, while better, treated Jacob and Daniel differently from his own children.

Not once had he ever told Jacob that he loved him. Might be because he didn’t.

For a lot of years, that hurt. No more. Not that he’d admit.

“What’s on your mind?” Luke asked, giving Jacob the once-over.

Was he that transparent? “Just because I’m going for a ride doesn’t mean I’m wrestling with a problem.”

Luke shrugged. “Except you are.”

Okay, he was that transparent. “Do you miss rodeoing?”

“Sure I do. Once in a while.”

“Would you go back if you could?”

“Probably getting a little too long in the tooth.”

Jacob understood. At twenty-eight, the majority of men he competed against were younger than him.

“You’re not thinking of quitting?” Luke asked.

Jacob shook his head. “Not this year. Now, if I win a title or two...”

“You’ll be too busy pushing papers at Baron Energies to ride bulls.”

“I hope to do a lot more than push papers.” Like take the company into the next decade.

“Brock softening any?”

“He’s hinted that he might be willing to look at a new proposal after the first of the year.” Which translated into after the National Finals Rodeo. “I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground. Rumors are circulating that Starr Solar Systems is coming up for sale.”

Luke chuckled. “The accident must have had more of an effect on the old man than we thought.”

Brock had suffered a terrible fall earlier in the year while competing in a senior pro rodeo. The injury to his leg had confined him to a wheelchair for months, and he’d been forced to relinquish the day-to-day running of Baron Energies to Lizzie, his oldest daughter.

Savannah and Carly supervised his care at home, an arrangement that had driven everyone crazy. Brock had always possessed a bigger-than-life personality and the physical stamina to match. Luckily, he was well on the path to recovery and had very recently returned to Baron’s boardroom on a part-time basis.

“That,” Jacob mused aloud, “and his kids are all getting married.”

What were the odds the Baron siblings had each recently found their match?

“Don’t forget Lizzie,” Luke said. “Grandchildren can change a person. It did my parents.”

Grandchildren! Lizzie had just delivered Brock’s first, and he crowed his delight to anyone who’d listen.

Except if Jacob was Cody’s father, then, technically, the boy would be Brock’s first and oldest.

Adoptive grandchild. Not the same. Jacob had no reason to believe Brock would treat Cody any differently than he’d treated Jacob and Daniel their whole lives. The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“I wouldn’t trade my life for anything.” Luke flashed his previously missing smile. “Nothing is more satisfying than coming home to Rosie and Carly. Not work, not rodeoing, not anything.”

“I’ve never given much thought to getting married and having kids.” Tired of holding his boots, Jacob set them on the ground and laid his clothes on top.

“You need to make your mark in the world first.”

Less making his mark and more proving he was as good as any Baron, regardless of his start in life and his father’s criminal history, though Jacob didn’t say it out loud.

“You must still miss your mom.” Compassion filled Luke’s voice.

“Every day.”

Seven years ago. Peggy Burke Baron had gone into the hospital for a routine appendectomy and come through the surgery with flying colors. She’d died a week later from a staph infection, leaving her two sons without a mother and her second husband a widower.

Jacob still felt the loss keenly. Brock not so much. Less than two years later, he remarried. Julieta was thirty years his junior and the mother of a little boy. Jacob’s adoptive siblings all adored Julieta and her son. She was nice enough, and the kid was okay, Jacob supposed. But that was the extent of his feelings.

He wasn’t jealous exactly. He might have been only nine when Brock and his mother wed, but he’d figured out soon after that their marriage was based on convenience and affection. Not love. But marrying so quickly after his mother’s death and to a significantly younger and beautiful woman felt like an insult.

Luke squeezed Jacob’s shoulder. “She was a fine lady with a heart of gold. She’d be proud of you.”

Jacob had a sobering thought. If Leah’s son was his, the boy would never meet either of Jacob’s parents. Only Brock.

“Do you remember Leah Snow?” he asked.

Luke scratched behind an ear. “Vaguely. A barrel racer, right?”

“She died a few months ago. From breast cancer.”

“Oh, man. That’s a shame.”

“She and I dated a few years ago.”

“You never said anything.”

“It was brief. A weekend.” Jacob gathered his courage. He’d decided not to tell anyone about Cody until the DNA test results were in and only if they were positive. Suddenly, he wanted someone to know. “Her sister, Mariana Snow, approached me at the Louisiana State Fair Rodeo. It seems Leah has a son.”

“Really.”

“She told Mariana before she died that I was the father.”

“Wow.” Luke looked as stunned as Jacob had felt upon hearing the news.

“Yeah.”

“Are you?”

“I’ll know for sure soon.” Jacob exhaled a long breath. There was both relief in the telling and increased anxiety. “But it’s pretty likely.”

“What are you going to do?” Luke asked.

“Mariana wants me to be a part of the boy’s life.”

“What does that mean?”

“Not sure, she didn’t say. Visitation. Custody maybe.”

“And you’re not sure how you feel about that,” Luke stated.

“I can barely handle work and rodeoing. How am I supposed to take care of a two-year-old? Even part-time. I don’t know the first thing.”

“No parent does in the beginning. But we learn.”

“You’re a natural father.”

“And you’re worried about the sacrifices you’ll have to make.”

Jacob squeezed his eyes shut, feeling completely out of control and at the mercy of the fates.

“I’ve worked so hard for years to get ahead. Finally, I have a chance at a championship title and a promotion. Now this.” He stopped abruptly. “I sound like a selfish bastard.”

“There isn’t a parent alive who doesn’t wonder about the impact children will have on their future.”

“What if I’m not cut out to be a dad? It’s not like I’ve had the best examples.”

“The better question might be what if you are?”

Though Jacob admired his friend greatly, he couldn’t conceive of sacrificing everything he’d worked so hard for.

“What if I just offered financial support? At least until after Finals? That’s only six weeks away.”

Luke didn’t hide his disappointment. “Now you sound just like Brock.”

Nothing his friend said or did could have made a bigger impact on Jacob. He did sound like Brock and his biological father.

Disgust filled him. “I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“It does.” Luke leaned an elbow on the stall door, his gaze direct. “You aren’t like either Brock or your father. At least, you don’t have to be.”

Cody’s photo, tucked in his wallet, burned a hole in Jacob’s back pocket. The boy deserved a better father than he’d had. The best Jacob could be.

“I always swore if I ever had children, I’d do right by them.”

Luke grinned. “Here’s your chance.”

“I’m still waiting for the DNA results.”

“That’s wise.”

The hour ride on Zeus helped to further clear Jacob’s head and give him purpose. After returning the gelding to its stall, he started for his truck. At the door, he paused and took out his cell phone. Mariana had given him her number yesterday. He dialed it now.

“This is Jacob,” he said when she answered. “I want to meet Cody. Tomorrow.”

* * *

“WE’RE HERE,” Mariana announced in a singsong voice as they neared Jacob’s house.

She’d been driving down the street at ten miles an hour, peering at address numbers posted above garage doors or on wrought iron gates. It was a nice, middle-class neighborhood. Most of the attractive homes were on large lots with drought-resistant natural landscaping.

“Daddy, Daddy!” Cody expressed his delight by tossing his stuffed pony in the air. It hit the back of Mariana’s seat and bounced off. “Wanna see Daddy.”

“We will.” She maneuvered the SUV into the driveway and parked. The vehicle belonged to her mother. Much more appropriate for transporting a toddler than her Infiniti. “Cool your jets.”

“Jets!” Cody kicked his sneakered feet wildly, and they banged into the console dividing the front seats.

“Okay, Cody. That’s enough.” She kept her voice level but firm.

Her nephew stopped. For an entire three seconds. “Wanna see Daddy,” he repeated and resumed kicking.

She’d thought it best to wait for the test results to come in before telling Cody he had a father. Somehow, he’d gleaned enough while listening to Mariana and her mother talking about Jacob to realize he had one of those magical, mystical beings: a father.

Served her right for having a supersmart nephew. Or, possibly, daddies were spoken of frequently at day care. He’d surely seen them picking up his playmates. That would explain his fascination. Wanting his and Jacob’s initial meeting to go well, Mariana had infused brightness into her voice when she talked about Jacob. As a result, Cody’s excitement soared.

Jacob had phoned her yesterday and insisted on meeting Cody, to Mariana’s surprise. She’d tried to convince him to wait, without success. He’d been adamant, and she didn’t want to give him a reason to bring in his attorneys or, worse, flee.

Errant fathers weren’t her specialty at the law firm where she worked. She did, however, have some experience with them. Her mother had spent years chasing down Mariana and Leah’s father, who never stayed in one place longer than a few months. When her mother did find him, there was a guaranteed battle over past due child support.

Mariana was twenty-nine years old, and her mother had yet to receive all the money owed her. The SOB didn’t even have the decency to show up at Leah’s memorial service.

She could understand her sister’s not wanting a man like that to be a part of her son’s life. But Jacob Baron wasn’t cut from the same cloth. Mariana knew; she’d done her homework on him and his family. He could, and hopefully would, do right by Cody.

Leah had also done her homework before selecting Jacob. Still, despite his many worthy attributes, she’d insisted on raising her son alone, even after the cancer returned and progressed at a terrifying rate.

Mariana stared at the pickup truck in the driveway, uncertainty gnawing away at her. If only he wasn’t a rodeo man like her father, she’d feel a whole lot better. At least he had a good, steady job and belonged to a family with deep roots in the Dallas area. That compensated for some of his less desirable cowboy traits.

Her cell phone rang just as she turned off the ignition.

“Yes, Helena,” she said after her secretary identified herself.

“Sorry to bother you this late, but I thought you’d want to know now rather than in the morning.”

Mariana braced herself. “What is it?”

“Paulo Molinas’s attorney has filed a motion to suppress Medallion Investments’ phone records.”